thumb
/ˈθʌm/ verb C2- To touch or cover with the thumb. · to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
- To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily. · thumb through· I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
- To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
- To hitchhike. · So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
- To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
- To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
- To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
He/she/it thumbs · Past thumbed · Past participle thumbed · -ing form thumbing
Verb forms
- Base form
- thumb
- He/she/it
- thumbs
- Past
- thumbed
- Past participle
- thumbed
- -ing form
- thumbing
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
“He seems to have a mania for diamonds,” said Morcerf, smiling, “and I verily believe that, like Potemkin, he keeps his pockets filled, for the sake of strewing them along the road, as Tom Thumb did his flint stones.”
By a man’s finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs—by each of these things a man’s calling is plainly revealed.
They took him into the house, and a big man picked him up between his finger and thumb and said he was not dead but half choked.
Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.
Other matches
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